We Have Concerns

There’s a cockroach that gives birth to live young, and it produces a “milk” that scientists want humans to drink. Jeff and Anthony talk about drinking human milk, drinking cow's milk, and the potential of drinking cockroach milk, and try to decide which is the most off-putting concept. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Get all your sweet We Have...

Police in Michigan have a new tool for unlocking phones: 3D printing. Law enforcement officers approached a professor at Michigan State earlier this year to reproduce a murder victim’s fingerprint from a prerecorded scan. Once created, the 3D model would be used to create a false fingerprint, which could be used to unlock the phone. Jeff and Anthony consider a world in which facsimiles are used to...

Research from the United Kingdom found self-service checkouts allowed people to normalize and excuse stealing, even among those who would never consider theft in any other setting. Anthony and Jeff discuss the role technology takes in illegal behavior, and consider whether they are more or less likely to screw over poor old Mr. Albertsons. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http:/...

A team of researchers based at the University of the West of England in Bristol has developed a method for turning human effluent into electricity. Urine is basically chemicals in solution, so if those chemicals can be properly utilized, it can be a fuel like any other. Jeff and Anthony discuss whether the infinite renewability of pee will save us all. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE....

A 44-year-old French father of two who found out one day that he had most of his brain missing. Instead his skull is mostly full of liquid, with only 10% of his brain tissue left. He has a life-long condition known as hydrocephalus, commonly called “water on the brain” or “water head”. Jeff and Anthony discuss the surprising malleability of the brain, and wonder what life could be like for this ma...

With the rise of autonomous machines and the possibility of an invading army comprised of robots, scientists are starting to think about designing spatial environments deliberately to deceive, misdirect, or otherwise baffle the sensors inside them. Could we retrofit cities specifically to confuse robotic attackers? Anthony and Jeff discuss what a machine-proof metropolitan area might look like. GE...

Scientists in Botswana are painting intimidating eyes onto the rumps of cattle that graze near wildlife areas to prevent them from being preyed upon by lions. The idea is that the eyes will trick the lions into thinking they’ve been spotted, causing them to abandon the hunt. Jeff and Anthony debate this ridiculously simplistic approach, and wonder why the king of the jungle is such a scared-y cat....

A team of scientists from the University of Nottingham and Harvard University have developed a method of regrowing damaged teeth using a filling-like material seeded from stem cells. The new approach would greatly reduce the need for uncomfortable dental drilling. Anthony and Jeff discuss their own dental histories, and what this kind of regrowth science might mean for the future. GET BONUS EPISOD...

Tina Gorjanc has sourced the late designer Alexander McQueen’s DNA to harvest into skin tissue, which she’ll then tan and turn into human leather. In turn, she’ll fashion this leather into an already-designed collection – dubbed “The Pure Human” – of jackets, bags and backpacks. Jeff and Anthony discuss the consequences and legality of using famous DNA without permission, and imagine a world of hi...

A new book called Real Food Fake Food: Why You Don't Know What You're Eating and What You Can Do About It, by Larry Olmsted, has caught Anthony's eye. When we buy fish and beef and olive oil, are we actually getting something completely different? Jeff reacts to these claims, and the guys try to figure out what they can do with the information. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: h...

With Rhinos on the brink of extinction, some bioengineers are 3D printing horns to flood the market with fakes, in an attempt to stop the decline. Jeff and Anthony debate the merits of this plan, and what it might lead to. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Get all your sweet We Have Concerns merch by swinging by http://wehaveconcerns.com/shop Hey...

A researcher in US thinks he might have finally found evidence of humanity's sixth sense - the ability to detect, in some subconscious way, Earth's magnetic field. Jeff and Anthony consider whether this might in fact be a thing. Can you feel the magnetic field? And if so, what might that mean? GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Get all your sweet...

Scientists have built a robotic stingray made of heart muscle cells from a rat, a skeleton of gold, plastic fins, and light-activated algae proteins. The tiny, 16-millimeter-long robots take about a week to make and can be controlled with light. Anthony and Jeff discuss the nature of abominations, and try to decide if this qualifies as one. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http:...

More than 30 people were treated for burns in Dallas after walking on hot coals at an event hosted by self-help guru Tony Robbins. Jeff and Anthony talk about whether they buy into the self-help subculture. Does mind over matter really work? Is doing something you never thought you could do worth doing? GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Get all y...

A Canadian funeral business is offering "green" funerals by dissolving the dead and pouring them into town sewers. Anthony and Jeff consider if this practice should cause alarm, or if they might one day prefer it to cremation or burial themselves. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Get all your sweet We Have Concerns merch by swinging by...

Physicists have confirmed the existence of a new form of atomic nuclei, and the fact that it’s not symmetrical challenges the fundamental theories of physics that explain our Universe. This pear-shaped nucleus could change everything we think we know about the universe, including the possibility of time travel. Jeff and Anthony dive into this discovery and talk through what it means, and how it ha...

Buying your first house is supposed to be a joyous occasion, but for young Tamara Holloway, from Nashville, Tennessee it was a terrible nightmare she couldn’t wake up from, because the man she bought the house from refused to move out. Jeff and Anthony are baffled by this problem. How could it occur? They work through the issue and come up with some ways this could have gone better. GET BONUS EPIS...

Remains of found at an altitude of 2,803 metres in the Altai Mountains are being hailed as the first complete Turkik burial found in Central Asia. In the mummy's grave archaeologists found - alongside the human remains - a saddle, bridle, clay vase, wooden bowl, trough, iron kettle, the remains of entire horse, and what looks an awful lot like Adidas sneakers. Anthony and Jeff speculate on the ori...

WeLab Ltd., a Hong Kong-based online lender that makes loans in China, looks at what apps people have downloaded, where they go using the phone’s GPS tracker, their social networks and their school records. It offers discounted interest rates for each extra piece of personal information that helps profile customers for credit ratings. Even worse, some student put up naked pictures as embarrassing...

The Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge is found above the Tianmenshan National Forest Park in the mountainous Hunan province of southern China, and is set to become the longest, highest, and most terrifying glass bridge in the world. Jeff and Anthony discuss whether they'd have the guts to venture out on this incredible architectural accomplishment, and what it might make them do. Watch the vid...

The wreckage of a 500-year-old Portuguese ship filled with gold coins has been unearthed by miners in a Namibian desert. How did a shipwreck end up in the desert? Jeff and Anthony discuss the strange story, and speculate on the nature of pirates and their booties. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Get all your sweet We Have Concerns merch by swin...

Archerfish shoot high-powered water jets from their mouths to stun prey. By training them to direct those jets of spit at certain individuals, scientists have shown that the little guys seem to be able to distinguish one human face from another. Does this mean fish are smarter than we thought? Or are human faces just very easy to differentiate? Anthony and Jeff have some theories, and try to decid...

In 2006, 20 families occupied the village of Xuenshanshe in China, but as people passed away from old age, and others moved due to the decline of natural resources, Eventually, just a single man remained, and he has lived alone in the village for nearly a decade. Jeff and Anthony discuss solitude, and what might lead a person to stay so isolated for so long. Could it be a good thing? GET BONUS EPI...

A new Indigogo campaign claims to offer an earpiece that can translate between languages. Anthony and Jeff have dreamed of a universal communication tool like those in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Star Trek, but could this thing really be it? They discuss the chances that it'll work, and how such a device could change the world. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO HANGOUTS AND MORE. VISIT: http://pat...

A group of 25 scientists has proposed an ambitious project to create a synthetic human genome, or genetic blueprint, in an endeavor raises concerns over the extent to which human life can or should be engineered. Anthony and Jeff imagine if, why, and how this process should be implemented, and what kind of bizarre parent-less beings we can expect to deal with as a result. GET BONUS EPISODES, VIDEO...